City to crack down on curb cuts

The city says it will finally crack down on Carroll Gardens homeowners who have turned their block into a “trailer park” by illegally using their front yards as parking spaces on Fourth Place, between Smith and Court streets, the Brooklyn Paper reported. “Parking is not permitted [in front yards] and none of the curb cuts are allowed,” said Carly Sullivan, a spokesperson for the Department of Buildings. City zoning laws state that the front yards along First, Second, Third and Fourth places are to be used “for courtyards only,” designating the front yards of homes on those blocks as part of the street and not the homeowner’s lot, giving the city control over what is built there. None of the homes with curb cuts ever applied for a permit to do so, Sullivan said, and the cuts would only be legal if they lead to a back garage or off-courtyard use. Violators, meanwhile, are claiming ignorance, with many saying that their homes had curb cuts before they moved in. [Brooklyn Paper]